London Underground (Assaults)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers on the London Underground have been assaulted in the last 12 months.

Tony McNulty: The total number of assaults recorded by the British Transport Police for their London Underground Area for the period from the 1 March 2004 to 28 February 2005 was 2,022. A breakdown of the offence categories is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Offence Number 
		
		
			 Grievous bodily harm 12 
			 Wounding 5 
			 Actual bodily harm 782 
			 Racially aggravated malicious wounding or grievous  bodily harm 3 
			 Racially aggravated actual bodily harm 45 
			 Racially aggravated common assault 87 
			 Common assault 1,088 
			 Total 2,022

Regional Offices

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what regional (a) bodies, (b) institutions, (c) taskforces, (d) panels, (e) offices and (f) organisations the Government have established since May 1997 which his Department is responsible for.

Charlotte Atkins: Information on task forces attached to central Government Departments and in existence between May 1997 and October 2000 was made available in three reports published in January, July and December 2000 on "Task Forces, Ad Hoc Advisory Groups and Reviews". For the years 2001–02 and 2003–03, this information has been included in the publications "Public Bodies 2002" and "Public Bodies 2003" respectively. Copies of these reports are available in the Library of the House. For 2003–04, this information can be found on the Cabinet Office's Public Bodies database.
	The GLA Act 1999 established Transport for London (TfL) under the direction of the Mayor of London to implement policies that promote and encourage safe, integrated, efficient, and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within London. TfL was established on 3 July 2000. The British Transport Police Authority was established on 1 June 2004 and is modelled on Home Office local police authorities.

Transport (Women Workers)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what educational material is provided by his Department to local education authorities to teach children about road safety.

David Jamieson: The Department for Transport provides a range of educational materials for local education authorities and schools to teach children of all ages about road safety.
	Web-based resources include:
	On the safe side—local responsibility on road safety education in schools: good practice and teaching ideas for primary schools, secondary schools and local authorities. http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft rdsafety/documents/divisionhomepage/032504.hcsp
	Road safety lesson plans in a range of curriculum subjects for pupils from key stage 1 to AS/A2 level. http://www. databases.dft.gov.uk/lessonplans/
	A database of road safety educational resources, launched in March 2005 http://www.databases.dft.gov.uk/roadsafety
	Hard-copy teaching materials available from DfTs Free Literature Service include:
	Making Choices—moving on to secondary school: teacher's manual, parent's booklet and child's magazine
	Out of school care activity pack—for after school clubs
	A rural road safety teaching resource for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils, prepared with RoSPA, will be launched this spring.
	The Driving Standards Agency runs the Arrive Alive education programme, aimed at pre-drivers and newly-qualified drivers aged 16–19. The presentation is delivered free of charge to a range of organisations including schools and colleges, armed forces, youth football teams and Young Offenders' Units.
	Road safety education and training is often delivered through local authority road safety officers. They can also deliver training schemes such as DfT's Kerbcraft roadside child pedestrian training scheme, the Crossroads pc-based pedestrian training scheme and cycle training.

Infantry Regiments

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the Secretary of State for Defence to discuss the future of Scotland's infantry regiments.

Alistair Darling: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous).

Freedom of Information

John Greenway: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who is responsible for deciding whether information requested from local government under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 qualifies for an exemption under the Act.

Christopher Leslie: Each individual public authority-and each local authority—is responsible for ensuring that they fulfil their obligations under the Freedom of Information Act. Local councils will make their own arrangements for deciding whether exemptions apply to information requested.

Homes Standards (Barnet)

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress Barnet council is making on the homes standards initiative.

Keith Hill: In July 2003 Barnet council was awarded a place on the Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) programme. In December 2004 the council's ALMO, Barnet Homes, secured a 2-star (good) rating from the housing inspectorate, qualifying for access to £19.1 million of ALMO funding for 2004–05 and 2005–06 to improve council homes that currently fail the decent homes standard. Subject to decisions on funding for future years, the council forecasts that all its social housing stock will meet this standard by 2010.

Housing

Mark Hoban: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of the infrastructure required to support the level of housing development for south Hampshire set out in the South East England Regional Assembly's document, The South East Plan.

Nick Raynsford: It is the responsibility of the South East England Regional Assembly to prepare the draft of the new South East Plan, before submitting it to Government for testing and final approval. Work is under way and includes consideration of the infrastructure in the region. For example, the Assembly commissioned a series of sub regional studies, including one for south Hampshire, which also looked at strategic infrastructure requirements for different growth options, and the delivery mechanisms needed to make sure new housing is provided in the most sustainable way possible. The results of these studies were fed in to the first draft of the South East Plan that is currently available for public consultation. We expect the Regional Assembly to submit their draft plan to Government later this year.

School Meals

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will meet the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to discuss ways of using more locally grown produce for school meals.

Alun Michael: The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is already involved with Defra in implementing the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI) that includes, as a key objective, a requirement to increase the opportunities for small local farmers and growers to compete to supply public bodies with food.
	A representative from DfES sits on the cross-public sector Food Procurement Implementation Group tasked with promoting the PSFPI within schools and other public bodies. DfES' Director of School Resources was also a panel member in a plenary discussion at the National Food Suppliers Conference on 7 March 2005, which attracted some 200 farmers, growers and suppliers from across England to learn about the PSFPI and the opportunities for supplying the public sector.
	More information about the conference and the PSFPI is given on Defra's website: http://www.defra. gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm.

Income Tax (Scotland)

Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue impact for Scotland of (a) raising and (b) lowering the basic rate of income tax by one pence.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to table 1.6 'Direct effect of illustrative tax changes' on the Inland Revenue website:
	www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/tax expenditures/ table1–6.pdf.

Stamp Duty

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue raised (a) in total and (b) within each stamp duty band in (i) Scotland and (ii) the UK.

Stephen Timms: Estimates of stamp duty revenues raised in the UK in each stamp duty band are given at:
	http://www.inlandrevenne.gov.uk/stats/stamp duty/ table15 3 october04.pdf
	Estimates of revenue raised from transactions in Scotland are only available for 2003–04 and are given in the following table.
	
		Estimated revenue from stamp duty land tax in Scotland in 2003–04
		
			 Stamp duty band (£ million) 
		
		
			 £250,000 or less 100 
			 £250,001–£500,000 50 
			 Over £500,000 250 
			 Total 410 
		
	
	Source:
	Land Valuation Unit of the University of Paisley (which receives data from Registers of Scotland Executive Agency)

Musical Instruments

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the benefit to children of learning to play musical instruments of (a) existing and (b) planned programmes funded by her Department designed to encourage children to begin or continue playing; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: Youth Music, a national charity set up in 1999 with £10 million per year of National Lottery money provided through Arts Council England, has granted over 1,500 awards nationally and reached over 880,000 participants. All projects funded through Youth Music are evaluated.
	Youth Music has also funded seven Wider Opportunities pilots, in which schools have developed programmes to explore ways of delivering instrumental tuition to groups of young people. 'Creating Chances for Making Music', an evaluation of these pilots (and of a further six funded by DfES), has been sent to every primary school, and LEA in England.
	Ofsted produced an evaluation report of 12 Wider Opportunities pilot areas. Findings were sent to all schools and LEAs in the form of a report and DVD entitled 'Tuning In'.

Malaria

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding was allocated by his Department and its agencies for the control of malaria in each year between 1999–2000 and 2004–05, broken down by (a) country, (b) global region and (c) recipient organisation; and what such funding has been allocated for each financial year to 2009–10.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: UK support to malaria control is provided through funding to: bilateral programmes at country level; global partnerships and programmes; multilateral agencies; and research agencies.
	Funding at country and regional level
	At country-level DFID supports malaria control through bilateral programmes. Some of these are malaria specific, but increasingly DFID funds the broader health sector plans of developing country governments through sector wide programming and poverty reduction budget support. Such sectoral programmes will build capacity in health systems to improve the way health services diagnose and treat all main causes of illness. It is therefore not always possible to identify the proportion spent on malaria. From 1998–99 to date UK support at country level to specific malaria programmes was about £58 million. In addition we have provided approximately £49 million for projects targeted on malaria and other diseases or which may have an impact on malaria control. This funding is part of over £1.5 billion committed by the UK to strengthening developing country health systems since 1997.
	Funding to organizations at international level
	DFID has contributed about £153 million from 1998–99 to date to international programmes which target malaria and other diseases. In addition we also provide funding to multilateral organisations such as the World Bank and the European Commission which also support malaria control and health services.
	DFID has committed funding to a number of global health partnerships, multilaterals, research agencies, and public-private partnerships. These current and future commitments are set out in table A as follows. These figures are not broken down by year.
	
		Table A
		
			  From  Organisation Amount (£ million) 
		
		
			 2003–06 Medicines for Malaria Venture 3 
			 2005–08 Wellcome Trust—Medicines for Malaria Venture 5 
			 2003–06 GlaxoSmithKline/World Health Organisation and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (lapdap) 0.5 
			 1999–2005 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine—Knowledge Programme 2.7 
			 1999–2005 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine—Knowledge Programme 2.9 
			 1998–2004 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine—Malaria  Consortium 3.7 
			 2005–11 Research Programme Consortia on Communicable Disease (3)10 
			 2001–08 Global Fund for AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (approx. 31 per cent. allocated to malaria) 259 
			 1998–2005 Roll Back Malaria Partnership 48.5 
		
	
	(3) Up to.

Disability Discrimination Bill

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans the Government has to monitor the compliance of schools with the duty to promote equal opportunities under the Disability Discrimination Bill.

Margaret Hodge: Our plans for monitoring how schools promote equality of opportunity for disabled people will be implemented in the following ways: our current arrangements for monitoring the quality of provision generally will include inspecting against the duty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. Second we will ensure inspections carried out by Office for Standards in Education will inspect this aspect. Third the rights of disabled people will be reflected in the arrangements we are developing as part of the New Relationship with Schools, including school self-evaluation, and finally our powers to support and challenge schools will enable us to monitor complains with the new duty.

Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the letter of 29 November 2004, from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford, ref 05963/2004.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 3 March 2005
	I replied to the hon. Member on 10 March 2005.

Trident

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answers to the hon. Members for North Tayside (Pete Wishart) and Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond), of 2 March 2005, Official Report, column 1234W, on Trident, whether he has made an estimate of potential casualties in the west of Scotland arising from a catastrophic malfunction of a Trident nuclear warhead at the base on the Clyde that leads to a nuclear yield; and whether he has made an estimate of potential casualties in the west of Scotland arising from a malfunction of a Trident nuclear warhead at the base on the Clyde that resulted in a radioactive release short of a nuclear yield into (a) the atmosphere and (b) the Firth of Clyde.

Geoff Hoon: There is no requirement under Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 to assess the number of potential casualties arising from a malfunction of a Trident nuclear warhead at the base on the Clyde and no estimates have therefore been made. However, it is highly unlikely that any catastrophic malfunction of a Trident warhead, resulting in a radioactive release into the atmosphere or the Firth of Clyde, would occur.

Asylum Seekers

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers have been compulsorily returned to Iran in each of the last six months.

Des Browne: holding answer 8 March 2005
	The latest available information on the number of failed asylum seekers who have been returned to Iran shows that in the six months from July to December 2004, 30 persons were removed. A breakdown by month is shown in the table.
	
		Persons removed from the United Kingdom to Iran in each of the last six months of 2004 1,2
		
			  Persons removed 
		
		
			 July 5 
			 August 5 
			 September 5 
			 October 5 
			 November 10 
			 December 5 
			 Total 30 
		
	
	(5) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, including dependants.
	(6) Excluding persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration and other voluntary departures.
	Notes:
	These figures are based on management information and are not National Statistics; the data are also provisional and are rounded to the nearest five and may not sum due to rounding.

Begging (Children)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 there have been of individuals for procuring a child to beg in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The available information contained in the table gives the number of offenders found guilty at all courts for "causing a child or young person to be in any street, etc., for purpose of begging" under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, Sec 4, England and Wales 1990 to 2003.
	Statistics on court proceedings for 2004 will be published in the autumn.
	
		Number of offenders found guilty at all courts for "the employment of children for begging" 1 England and Wales 1990 to 2003
		
			  Found guilty 
		
		
			 1990 5 
			 1991 6 
			 1992 19 
			 1993 25 
			 1994 11 
			 1995 31 
			 1996 29 
			 1997 29 
			 1998 57 
			 1999 121 
			 2000 44 
			 2001 16 
			 2002 9 
			 2003 28 
		
	
	(7) These data are on the principal offence basis.

Fixed Penalty Notices

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notice offences have been issued for each basic command unit in England and Wales for (a) selling alcohol to a person under 18, (b) the purchase of alcohol for a person under 18 on licensed premises, (c) the consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 and (d) allowing delivery of alcohol to a person under 18.

Charles Clarke: The total number of penalty notices issued for these offences for the period January to November 2004 is 61. The table details the available information for each police force area in England and Wales broken down by offence. Purchase of alcohol for a person under 18 on licensed premises has been broken down into the offence committed in a bar and that in licensed premises as the latter was only added to the scheme from 1 November to target off licence offences. Data are collected centrally at police force level only.
	Penalty notice disposal provides the police with a quick and effective way of dealing with this type of minor offence without the need to prosecute. As four of these offences only became liable to disposal by penalty notice from 1 November, the number of offenders dealt with in this way will rise significantly.
	The Christmas Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign ran from 17 December 2004 to 3 January 2005 involving 188 Borough Command Units. Data from the campaign shows that 72 penalty notices were issued for offences connected with selling alcohol to persons under 18, 32 in connection with on-licences and 40 in connection with off-licences.
	
		Penalty notices for disorder issued relating to buying, selling etc alcohol to persons under 18 in England and Wales during January to November 2004, by police force area (Provisional figures) Number
		
			  Offence breakdown 
			 Police force area Selling alcohol to person under 18 1 Purchasing alcohol in licensed premises for person under 18 1 Delivering alcohol to person under 18 1 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset — — — 
			 Bedfordshire — — — 
			 Cambridgeshire — — — 
			 Cheshire — 1 — 
			 Cleveland — 1 — 
			 Cumbria —  — 
			 Derbyshire —  — 
			 Devon and Cornwall —  — 
			 Dorset 5 — — 
			 Durham — — — 
			 Essex — — — 
			 Gloucestershire — — — 
			 Greater Manchester — 1 — 
			 Hampshire — 1 — 
			 Hertfordshire — — 1 
			 Humberside 2  — 
			 Kent — — — 
			 Lancashire — 1 — 
			 Leicestershire — 1 — 
			 Lincolnshire — — — 
			 London, City of — — — 
			 Merseyside — — — 
			 Metropolitan police — — 1 
			 Norfolk — — — 
			 Northamptonshire — — — 
			 Northumbria 1 — — 
			 North Yorkshire — — — 
			 Nottinghamshire — — — 
			 South Yorkshire — — — 
			 Staffordshire — 1 — 
			 Suffolk — — — 
			 Surrey — — — 
			 Sussex — — — 
			 Thames Valley(9) — — — 
			 Warwickshire — — — 
			 West Mercia — — — 
			 West Midlands — — — 
			 West Yorkshire 2 — — 
			 Wiltshire — — — 
			 Dyfed-Powys — — — 
			 Gwent — — — 
			 North Wales — — — 
			 South Wales — — — 
			 Total 10 7 2 
		
	
	Number
	
		
			  Offence breakdown 
			 Police force area Purchasing alcohol for consumption in a bar in licensed premises for person under 18 Allowing consumption of alcohol by a person under 18 in bar in licensed premises(8) Total PNDs issued relating to buying, selling etc alcohol to persons under 18 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset — — — 
			 Bedfordshire — — — 
			 Cambridgeshire — — — 
			 Cheshire 1 — 2 
			 Cleveland 2 — 3 
			 Cumbria — — — 
			 Derbyshire 1 — 1 
			 Devon and Cornwall — 1 1 
			 Dorset — — 5 
			 Durham — — — 
			 Essex 1 — 1 
			 Gloucestershire — — — 
			 Greater Manchester 2 2 5 
			 Hampshire 3 — 4 
			 Hertfordshire — — 1 
			 Humberside — — 2 
			 Kent 2 — 2 
			 Lancashire 5 — 6 
			 Leicestershire 1 — 2 
			 Lincolnshire — — — 
			 London, City of — — — 
			 Merseyside 8 — 8 
			 Metropolitan police 2 — 3 
			 Norfolk — — — 
			 Northamptonshire 1 — 1 
			 Northumbria — — 1 
			 North Yorkshire — — — 
			 Nottinghamshire 2 — 2 
			 South Yorkshire 2 — 2 
			 Staffordshire — — 1 
			 Suffolk — — — 
			 Surrey — — — 
			 Sussex — — — 
			 Thames Valley(9) 1 — 1 
			 Warwickshire — — — 
			 West Mercia — — — 
			 West Midlands 2 — 2 
			 West Yorkshire — — 2 
			 Wiltshire — — — 
			 Dyfed-Powys — — — 
			 Gwent — — — 
			 North Wales 3 — 3 
			 South Wales — — — 
			 Total 39 3 61 
		
	
	(8) New offence added to PND scheme from 1 November 2004.
	(9) January to October only.

Immigration (Illegal Working)

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers (a) were investigated between 27 January and 10 February 2003 and (b) have been investigated since 10 February 2003 for offences related to alleged intended or actual employment of illegal workers or facilitation of illegal immigration or other immigration-related offences (i) under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, (ii) under the Nationality, Asylum and Immigration Act 2002 and (iii) under other legislation; how many were prosecuted; how many were convicted; and what the (A) minimum, (B) average and (C) maximum sentences imposed were, broken down by offence.

Des Browne: Internal management information shows that in the financial year 2002–03 301 illegal working operations were reported as having taken place; as a result of these, 1,099 offenders were detected. In the year 2003–04, 697 operations were reported and 2,304 offenders were detected. It is not possible to break down this information into the periods requested.
	The latest available information on the number of persons proceeded against for offences under Immigration Acts 1971 to 2002 in England and Wales in the periods requested, together with the penalties imposed, is shown in the table.
	Official statistics on the number of people proceeded against during 2004 will be published in autumn 2005 in the Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2004". This will be available from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
	
		Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, convicted at all courts and sentence breakdown for offences of facilitation under Immigration Acts 1971 to 1996 in England and Wales, 27 January to 10 February 2003 and 11 February to 31 December 2003(10)
		
			   27 January to 10 February 2003 
			   Sentence type 
			   Offence description   Principal statute  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Total sentenced Absolute/ condition discharge   Fine  Community sentence 
		
		
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an illegal entrant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(a) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 13 5 17 — — — 
			 
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an asylum claimant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(b) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 4 1 1 — 1 — 
			 
			 Knowingly facilitating leave to remain of persons by means of deception Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(c) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 — — — — — — 
			 
			 Employing a person subject to immigration control Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 S.8 — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			   27 January to 10 February 2003 
			   Sentence type Custody length (months) 
			  Offence description  Principal statute Suspended sentence Immediate custody  Minimum  Average  Maximum 
		
		
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an illegal entrant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(a) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 2 15 4 11.7 18 
			
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an asylum claimant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(b) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 — — — — — 
			
			 Knowingly facilitating leave to remain of persons by means of deception Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(c) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 — — — — — 
			
			 Employing a person subject to immigration control Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 S.8 — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			   11 February to 31 December 2003 
			   Sentence type 
			   Offence description   Principal statute  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Total sentenced Absolute/ condition discharge   Fine  Community sentence 
		
		
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an illegal entrant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(a) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 192 138 186 4 1 3 
			 
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an asylum claimant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(b) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 10 5 4 — — 1 
			 
			 Knowingly facilitating leave to remain of persons by means of deception Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(c) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 8 9 9 1 — 1 
			 
			 Employing a person subject to immigration control Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 S.8 2 1 1 — 1 — 
		
	
	
		
			   11 February to 31 December 2003 
			   Sentence type Custody length (months) 
			  Offence description  Principal statute Suspended sentence Immediate custody  Minimum  Average  Maximum 
		
		
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an illegal entrant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(a) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 9 169 2 16.3 84 
			
			 Knowingly facilitating the entry of an asylum claimant Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(b) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 — 3 9 19 36 
			
			 Knowingly facilitating leave to remain of persons by means of deception Immigration Act 1971 S.25(1)(c) as amended by Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 S.5 — 7 3 13.7 42 
			
			 Employing a person subject to immigration control Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 S.8 — — — — — 
		
	
	(10) Principal immigration offence.

Leave to Remain Applications

David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received from the English language school industry in the UK on his proposals to increase the cost of Leave to Remain applications from international students; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: Since 1 September 2004 I have received 12 letters from MPs on behalf of the English language school industry. The following organisations responded to the Home Office Consultation "Charges for Immigration Applications", which closed on 8 December 2004: English UK, Association of English Language Teaching Centres, British Council Accredited English Language Schools for Adults, the London School of English, and the Wimbledon School of English.
	An assessment of the impact of the charges on the English language sector was published in a regulatory impact assessment on 7 February 2005 and is available on the Home Office website: www.ind.homeoffice.gsi. gov.uk.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to focus the asylum system on those genuinely fleeing persecution by taking speedy, high quality decisions and reducing significantly unfounded asylum claims;
	(2)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to ensure the fast turnaround of manifestly unfounded asylum cases;
	(3)  whether the public service agreement target to ensure that 75 per cent. of substantive asylum applications are decided within two months by 2004 was met;
	(4)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to enforce the immigration laws more effectively by removing a greater proportion of failed asylum seekers;
	(5)  what recent progress has been made towards the public service agreement target to reduce unfounded asylum claims;
	(6)  what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to tackle abuse of the immigration laws and promote controlled legal migration.

Des Browne: Performance against my Department's targets is published in the Annual Report and the Autumn Performance Report available in the House Library and on the Home Office website (www. homeoffice.gov.uk).

Under-age Drinking (London)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have taken place for under-age drinking in each London borough in each year since 1990.

Paul Goggins: There is no specific offence of under-age drinking.
	However, the available information from the Home Office Court Proceedings database, gives the number of defendants aged 10–17 years who were proceeded against in each London borough, for offences of being drunk, drunk at a designated sports event and drunk and disorderly together with defendants proceeded against for the offence of: "Selling etc., intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 for consumption on the premises". Figures for 1990 to 2003 are given in the following table. Statistics for 2004 will be available in the autumn.
	In addition, the penalty notice for disorder scheme provides for persons who commit specified penalty offences to be issued with a fixed penalty notice instead of being prosecuted or cautioned. The scheme was extended to 16 and 17-year-olds from 20 January 2004. The second table details the number of penalty notices issued for the listed offences which involve under age drinking. These include offences committed by 16 and 17-year-olds and alcohol offences involving the purchase for, sale or delivery to persons aged under 18 years.
	The penalty notice for disorder scheme has been extended to allow penalty notices to be issued to 10 to 15-year-olds and pilots of these powers are now under way in seven police force areas including the borough of Kingston in the Metropolitan police force area. A further under age drinking offence, purchase of alcohol on licensed premises by a person under 18, is to be added to the scheme as set out in a draft Order laid before Parliament on 17 March.
	
		Persons aged 10 and under 18 proceeded against at magistrates courts for certain alcohol related offences, by London borough 1990 to 2003(16)
		
			 Offence/London borough 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 
		
		
			 Drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises 
			 Inner London magistrates courts 2
			 City of London police
			 Guildhall Justice rooms — — — — — — — 
			 
			 Metropolitan police
			 Bow Street(18) — — 1 — — — — 
			 Camberwell Green/Tower Bridge — 2 — — — — — 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich — — 1 — — — — 
			 Highbury Corner(19) 1 — — — — — — 
			 Horseferry Road — — 1 — — — — 
			 Marylebone — — — — — — — 
			 South Western — — — — — — — 
			 Thames — — — — — — — 
			 West London 3 — — — — — — 
			 Inner London Juvenile Courts(20) 4 — 1 — — — 1 
			 
			 Outer London boroughs
			 Metropolitan police
			 Barking and Dagenham — — — — — — — 
			 Barnet — — — — — — — 
			 Bexley — — — — — — — 
			 Brent — — 1 — 1 — — 
			 Bromley — — 1 — — — — 
			 Croydon — — 1 — — — — 
			 Ealing — — — — — — — 
			 Enfield — — — — — — — 
			 Haringey — — — — — — — 
			 Harrow — — — — — — — 
			 Havering — — — — — — — 
			 Hillingdon — — 1 — — — — 
			 Hounslow 1 — — — 1 — 1 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 2 — — 1 — — — 
			 Merton — — — — — — — 
			 Newham — — — — 1 — — 
			 Redbridge — — — — — — — 
			 Richmond upon Thames — — — — — — — 
			 Sutton — — — — — — — 
			 Waltham Forest — — — — — — — 
			 
			 Total Metropolitan police 3 — 4 1 3 — 1 
			 
			 Total Greater London 11 2 8 1 3 — 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Offence/London borough 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises 
			 Inner London magistrates courts(17)
			 City of London police
			 Guildhall Justice rooms — — — — — — — 
			 
			 Metropolitan police
			 Bow Street(18) — — — — — — — 
			 Camberwell Green/Tower Bridge — — — 3 — 1 — 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich — — — — — — — 
			 Highbury Corner(19) — — — — — — — 
			 Horseferry Road — — — — — — — 
			 Marylebone — — — — — — — 
			 South Western — — — — — — — 
			 Thames — — — — — — — 
			 West London — 1 1 2 1 — 1 
			 Inner London Juvenile Courts(20) — — — — — — — 
			 
			 Outer London boroughs
			 Metropolitan police
			 Barking and Dagenham — — — — 2 — — 
			 Barnet — — — — — — — 
			 Bexley — — — — 1 — 3 
			 Brent — — — — — — — 
			 Bromley — — — — 1 — — 
			 Croydon — — — — 1 — — 
			 Ealing 1 — — — — — — 
			 Enfield — — — — — — — 
			 Haringey — — — — — 1 — 
			 Harrow — — — — — — — 
			 Havering — — — — 1 1 — 
			 Hillingdon — — — 1 — — — 
			 Hounslow — — — 1 1 — — 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames — 1 — — — — — 
			 Merton — — — 1 2 — — 
			 Newham — — — — — — — 
			 Redbridge — — — — — — — 
			 Richmond upon Thames — — 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Sutton 1 — — 1 — 1 1 
			 Waltham Forest — — — — — — — 
			 
			 Total Metropolitan police 2 1 1 5 10 4 5 
			 
			 Total Greater London 2 2 2 10 11 5 6 
		
	
	(16) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	(17) Information held centrally does not allow a breakdown of cases by borough in the Inner London area.
	(18) Includes Marlborough Street 1997–99.
	(19) Includes Clerkenwell and Hampstead, 1997–98.
	(20) Cases included with adult courts from 1998 (from 1999 for cases heard at the Crown court).
	
		Number of penalty notices for disorder issued in London(21) for offences relating to alcohol—2004 (Provisional figures)
		
			  Offence  Statute Number of notices issued 
		
		
			 Offences committed by juveniles aged 16 and 17 years   
			 Drunk and disorderly Criminal Justice Act 1967, Sec 91 22 
			 Being drunk in a highway, other public place or licensed premises Licensing Act 1872, Sec 12 2 
			 Consumption of alcohol in designated public place Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, Sec 12 — 
			 Consumption of alcohol by under 18 in licensed premises(22) Licensing Act 1964, Sec 169E(1) — 
			
			 Offences involving the purchase for, sale or delivery to, persons aged under 18 years 
			 Sell alcohol to person under 18(22) Licensing Act 1964, Sec 169A 5 
			 Purchase of alcohol in licensed premises for person under 18(22) Licensing Act 1964, Sec 169C(2) — 
			 Purchase of alcohol for consumption in bar of licensed premises for person under 18 Licensing Act 1964, Sec 169C(3) 2 
			 Allowing consumption of alcohol by under 18 in bar of licensed premises(22) Licensing Act 1964, Sec 169E(2) — 
			 Delivery of alcohol to person under 18 or allowing delivery(22) Licensing Act 1964, Sec 169F 3 
		
	
	(21) City of London and Metropolitan police force areas.
	(22) Offence added to PND scheme only from 1 November 2004.

Young Offenders

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) baseline Certified National Accommodation (CNA), (b) in use CNA, (c) operational capacity and (d) prisoner population was for each young offenders institution on 28 January.

Paul Goggins: The (a) baseline Certified National Accommodation (CNA), (b) in use CNA, (c) operational capacity and (d) prisoner population for each Young Offenders' Institution on 31 January 2005 are given as follows. Table 1 gives the figures for establishments which only hold sentenced young offenders.
	
		Table 1
		
			 Establishment Baseline CNA In use CNA Operational capacity Population 
		
		
			 Portland 533 447 472 455 
			 Deerbolt 513 513 518 441 
			 Rochester 392 392 392 371 
			 Aylesbury 421 356 372 357 
			 Huntercombe 360 360 368 337 
			 Northallerton 153 78 126 110 
			 Werrington 146 146 148 111 
		
	
	Table 2, gives the numbers for establishments that hold other prisoners in addition to sentenced young offenders. The data for CNA and Operational Capacity are only available for the whole of these establishments and cannot be broken down for particular groups.
	
		Table 2
		
			 Establishment Population 
		
		
			 Stoke Heath 580 
			 Glen Parva 505 
			 Lancaster Farms 383 
			 Hindley 374 
			 Moorland 361 
			 Pare 330 
			 Swinfen Hall 302 
			 Castington 280 
			 Wetherby 264 
			 Thorn Cross 249 
			 Ashfield 245 
			 Brinsford 223 
			 Doncaster 207 
			 Feltham 206 
			 Warren Hill 175 
			 Onley 167 
			 Reading 149 
			 Norwich 133 
			 Bullwood Hall 96 
			 Hull 66 
			 Guys Marsh 61 
			 Moorland Open 54 
			 New Hall 53 
			 Chelmsford 46 
			 Woodhill 41 
			 Low Newton 40 
			 Eastwood Park 37 
			 Elmley 36 
			 Holloway 32 
			 Dover 30 
			 Exeter 24 
			 Styal 23 
			 Dorchester 18 
			 Highdown 18 
			 Drake Hall 14 
			 Hollesley Bay 13 
			 Haslar 12 
			 Lewes 12

China

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last had discussions with Chinese officials concerning the Chief Executive and Legislative Council of Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Ministers and officials regularly discuss Hong Kong matters with Chinese officials. My right hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary discussed Hong Kong's constitutional reform and progress towards universal suffrage with Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing in China in January. I also raised these issues when I visited China in July last year. During my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister's talks with the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on 10 May 2004, both Governments reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the Joint Declaration and agreed to continue their exchanges of view on these issues.
	Her Majesty's Government supports democracy throughout the world as the best means for creating stable, accountable and transparent government, of protecting rights and freedoms, and of upholding the rule of law. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) contains provisions regarding the methods of selecting the Chief Executive of the SAR and the formation of the Legislative Council. The ultimate aim of the Basic Law is a Chief Executive and Legislative Council elected by universal suffrage. The Government favours early progress to this end. We hope that the Hong Kong SAR Government will take full account of the wishes of the people of Hong Kong.
	We continue to follow developments in Hong Kong closely, in line with our responsibilities as a co-signatory to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong.

eBay

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department sold any surplus stock on the eBay auction website, in each year since 2000–01.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 9 March 2005
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) only holds centrally the values realised for the disposal of assets not the methodology employed for the disposal of those assets. The global nature of the FCO's operations means that this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

European Constitution

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information the Government intends to distribute to every household regarding the EU Constitution (a) prior to the relevant period, (b) during the relevant period and (c) during the referendum period, as defined by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.

Denis MacShane: No decisions have yet been made on this issue.

European Constitution

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answers of 19 January 2005, Official Report, column 1020W, to the hon. Member for Hornchurch, on the European Constitution, what activities of the Institutions of the EU have been agreed with the Government to date; when he intends to announce the date of the referendum on the European Constitution; and what factors will inform his decision on the date.

Denis MacShane: The Institutions of the EU undertake a basic level of factual information provision about the European Union for the European public. They are in regular contact with Ministers and officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regarding these activities in the UK.
	Clause 6 (1) of the European Union Bill provides for the date of the referendum to be set by order, after the Bill has been approved by Parliament. No decision has yet been taken on the date. All member states have agreed to pursue ratification of the Treaty by November 2006.

European Constitution

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answers of 19 January 2005, Official Report, column 1020W, to the hon. Member for Hornchurch, on the European Constitution, if he will ensure that the referendum on the European Constitution will not take place on the same date as the nationwide elections to local authorities in May 2006.

Denis MacShane: No decision has yet been taken on the date of the referendum.

Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 1 March 2005, Official Report, column 805, which parts of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (a) recognise the United Kingdom as a nuclear state and (b) legally allow the United Kingdom to hold nuclear weapons.

Denis MacShane: The United Kingdom, along with China, France, Russia and the United States, are recognised as nuclear weapon states under Article IX.3 of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. It states that "a nuclear-weapon State is one which has manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to January 1, 1967." All other states parties are therefore recognised as non-nuclear weapon states. All states parties must comply with their treaty obligations set out under the treaty articles. These include the obligation under Article VI to "pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control".

Business Starts

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses started up on average each week in the London region in 2004; what the weekly average of such start-ups has been since May 1997; and if she will make a statement on the (a) sustainability and (b) employment-creating and prosperity-generating features of such businesses.

Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation, which includes non-VAT registered firms, shows there were 84,000 business start-ups in the London region in 2003 and this approximates to about 1,600 per week. A further 57,000 businesses started up in the first six months of 2004. Since Barclays revised their methodology for calculating the number of start-ups they have not published revised figures for the London region before 2003.
	To give an indication of business start-up rates for 1997 to 2003, DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations for the London region are shown as follows.
	
		VAT registrations in London
		
			  Number per year Average per week 
		
		
			 1997 36,935 708 
			 1998 38,850 745 
			 1999 37,165 713 
			 2000 37,075 709 
			 2001 33,380 640 
			 2002 33,340 639 
			 2003 36,590 702 
			 1997 to 2003 253,335 694 
		
	
	Source:
	Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations
	1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from:
	http://www.sbs.gov.uk/analytical/statistics/vatstats.php
	VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997 and is currently £58,000. Across the UK, only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.
	The percentages of VAT registered businesses in the London region still registered after one year are given in the following table.
	
		One year survival rates for VAT registered businesses
		
			 Year of registration Percentage still trading—London 
		
		
			 1997 88.7 
			 1998 88.8 
			 1999 88.0 
			 2000 89.6 
			 2001 91.2 
		
	
	Source:
	Business Survival Rates, Small Business Service, available from:
	http://www.sbs.aov.uk/analvtical/statistics/statisticssurvivalrates.php
	Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to the prosperity of the London region. For example latest statistics show that SMEs in the London region had a combined turnover of £270 billion at the start of 2003, which represents an average turnover of £420,000 per business. In total, SMEs in the London region provided 1.8 million jobs, representing an average of 2.8 employees per SME.

Small Firms

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how the small firms productivity growth referred to in Public Service Agreement Target 6 of her Department's Business Plan 2005–8 is measured; and what small firms productivity growth was in each year between 1984 and 2004 on the basis of this measurement.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 7 March 2005
	Productivity growth in small firms is collected through a special analysis of the Office for National Statistics' Annual Business Inquiry. The ABI is an annual survey of around 70,000 businesses. Productivity is measured as Gross Value Added per employee, with small firms defined for this purpose as registered enterprises with 0 to 249 employees.
	Data on small firms productivity growth between 1999 and 2002 is set out in the following table. It shows that small firms productivity has grown by at least 3.5 per cent. each year over the last three years.
	Data in this series is not available for periods before 1999. Data for 2003 will be available later this year.
	
		Productivity growth in small firms
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1999–2000 3.5 
			 2000–01 4.3 
			 2001–02 3.5

Disabled Access

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of his Department's advertising campaign to inform small businesses of the adjustments required for disabled access under the Disabilities Discrimination Act 1995 was.

Maria Eagle: The total budget for the 2004–05 communications campaign to inform small businesses of their duties under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 is £4.4 million. The first phase of the campaign ran from April to September last year at a cost of £2.4 million, and aimed to alert small employers and service providers to the introduction of the October 2004 duties of the DDA. The second phase of the campaign, which started in January this year and ends this month, has a budget of £2 million; this is aimed at reminding service providers of new duties placed on them by the changes to the access provisions introduced from October 2004

New Deal (Blyth Valley)

Ronnie Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) young people, (b) single mothers and (c) other people have participated in the new deal in Blyth Valley.

Jane Kennedy: The available information is in the table.
	
		New deal in Blyth Valley
		
			  Individual starts Individuals into work 
		
		
			 Total 4,080 2,380 
			 Young people 1,950 1,270 
			 Single mothers 940 560 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Young people data relates to the number of people who have started, and gained a job through, the new deal for young people and people aged 24 and under on the new deal for lone parents.
	2. Single mothers data relates to the number of female lone parents who have started, and gained a job through, the new deal for lone parents. 3. The total relates to the number of individuals in Blyth Valley who have benefited from the new deal for young people, new deal 25 plus, new deal for lone parents and the new deal 50 plus.
	4. New deal for disabled people and new deal for partners information is not available at constituency level.
	5. New deal for young people, new deal 25 plus and new deal for lone parents data is to September 2004.
	6. New deal 50 plus data is to March 2003. New deal 50 plus information is not available at constituency level after March 2003.
	7. The new deal for young people started in January 1998; new deal 25 plus started in July 1998; new deal for lone parents started in October 1998; new deal 50 plus started in April 2000.
	8. Individuals can be counted in more than one category.
	9. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate

Pensions (Ribble Valley)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) male and (b) female recipients of (i) the basic state pension, (ii) SERPS and (iii) pension credit in the Ribble Valley in the last year for which figures are available.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Expenditure 2003–04 Male Female 
		
		
			 Basic state pension 32 43 
			 Additional state pension 10 4 
			 Pension credit 3 2 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are for Ribble Valley constituency and are rounded to the nearest £ million.
	2. Ribble Valley data is taken from a 5 per cent. sample of benefit records and is subject to a degree of sampling variation. This data is then used to provide the male and female splits and is applied to expenditure from Departmental accounting systems.
	3. Basic state pension figures do not include non-contributory retirement pension.
	4. Expenditure on pension credit includes minimum income guarantee for April to September 2003.
	Source:
	DWP 5 per cent. sample March 2004.

Members (Consultancy)

Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what inquiries he has made into payments made to the right hon. Member for Darlington by companies involved in major commercial deals with the NHS; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what inquiries he has made into payments made to the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) for speeches and consultancy services, by a firm which has been involved in major commercial dealings with the Department for Education and Skills; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: holding answers 4 and 7 March 2005
	None.

Official Residences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the occupants of each made towards running costs; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure has been on those properties in each of the past five years; how much money was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2003–04; how many (i) domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment was in 2003–04.

David Miliband: With regards to which residences the Department is responsible for and who occupies them, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 20 January 2005, Official Report, column 1037W, by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister.
	On general running and refurbishment/maintenance costs in each of the last five years, I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend, the then Minister for the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly), gave on 1 November 2004, Official Report, column 129W, to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk).

Bed Occupancy (London Acute Trusts)

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the bed occupancy rates for acute trusts in London were in each of the last four years.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Average daily number of available and occupied beds by sector in London Acute Trusts, 2000–04
		
			   2003–04 
			   Total 
			   Available Occupied Percentage occupied 
		
		
			 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust 1,491 1,348 90.4 
			 RVL Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 1,001 934 93.2 
			 RRP Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust 751 677 90.2 
			 RNJ Barts and the London NHS Trust 1,090 987 90.6 
			 RG3 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 546 480 88.0 
			 TAP Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust 424 385 90.9 
			 RV3 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust 814 707 86.8 
			 ROM Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust 503 460 91.4 
			 RC3 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 436 388 89.0 
			 RWK East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust 628 586 93.3 
			 RVR Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust 873 735 84.2 
			 RP4 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust 293 213 72.7 
			 RJ1 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust 1,278 992 77.7 
			 RON Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 1,037 940 90.6 
			 RQX Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust 508 434 85.5 
			 RJZ King's College Hospital NHS Trust 966 887 91.8 
			 RAX Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 585 515 88.1 
			 RJ6 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust 729 639 87.7 
			 RP6 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust 49 33 68.0 
			 RNH Newham Healthcare NHS Trust 449 366 81.4 
			 RAT North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 726 660 90.9 
			 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 478 440 92.1 
			 RPG Oxleas NHS Trust 442 423 95.7 
			 RG2 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 484 423 87.5 
			 RGZ Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 453 379 83.7 
			 RT3 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust 388 340 87.7 
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 889 782 88.0 
			 RAN Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 194 143 73.6 
			 RV5 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 1,054 996 94.5 
			 RQY South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust 740 86.6 846 
			 RJ7 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 1,000 865 86.5 
			 RJ5 St Mary's NHS Trust 635 594 93.5 
			 RAS The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 539 472 87.6 
			 RJ2 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust 583 517 88.7 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 874 779 89.2 
			 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Trust 231 194 84.1 
			 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 443 403 90.9 
			 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Trust 926 799 86.2 
			 RKL West London Mental Health NHS Trust 673 625 92.8 
			 RFW West Middlesex University NHS Trust 388 362 93.3 
			 RGC Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 739 671 90.8 
		
	
	
		
			   2002–03 
			   Total 
			   Available Occupied Percentage occupied 
		
		
			 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust 1,473 1,346 91.4 
			 RVL Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 1,030 937 90.9 
			 RRP Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust 701 670 95.5 
			 RNJ Barts and the London NHS Trust 1,093 985 90.1 
			 RG3 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 606 524 86.5 
			 TAP Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust 451 388 86.0 
			 RV3 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust 847 718 84.8 
			 ROM Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust 509 465 91.4 
			 RC3 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 415 375 90.5 
			 RWK East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust 637 593 93.1 
			 RVR Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust 872 744 85.3 
			 RP4 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust 282 205 72.9 
			 RJ1 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust 1,267 1,004 79.2 
			 RON Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 1,021 917 89.8 
			 RQX Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust 473 411 87.0 
			 RJZ King's College Hospital NHS Trust 925 837 90.5 
			 RAX Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 576 504 87.6 
			 RJ6 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust 711 663 93.3 
			 RP6 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust 51 29 57.3 
			 RNH Newham Healthcare NHS Trust 452 397 87.9 
			 RAT North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 757 693 91.6 
			 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 477 443 92.9 
			 RPG Oxleas NHS Trust 483 471 97.5 
			 RG2 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 493 420 85.3 
			 RGZ Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 447 358 80.0 
			 RT3 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust 392 343 87.6 
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 906 784 86.6 
			 RAN Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 179 130 72.8 
			 RV5 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 925 908 98.1 
			 RQY South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust 846 716 84.6 
			 RJ7 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 983 829 84.4 
			 RJ5 St Mary's NHS Trust 636 592 93.1 
			 RAS The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 668 594 88.9 
			 RJ2 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust 583 512 87.7 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 895 755 84.3 
			 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Trust 232 192 82.9 
			 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 429 417 97.2 
			 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Trust 834 717 86.0 
			 RKL West London Mental Health NHS Trust 654 623 95.2 
			 RFW West Middlesex University NHS Trust 431 378 87.8 
			 RGC Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 751 669 89.1 
		
	
	
		
			   2001–02 
			   Total 
			   Available Occupied Percentage occupied 
		
		
			 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust 1,426 1,328 93.2 
			 RVL Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 1,037 923 89.0 
			 RRP Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust 743 690 92.9 
			 RNJ Barts and the London NHS Trust 1,115 982 88.1 
			 RG3 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 655 521 79.5 
			 TAP Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust (23)— (23)— (23)— 
			 RV3 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust 640 584 91.2 
			 ROM Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust 509 402 78.9 
			 RC3 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 395 364 92.1 
			 RWK East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust 493 408 82.7 
			 RVR Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust 960 814 84.8 
			 RP4 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust 279 210 75.1 
			 RJ1 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust 1,248 982 78.7 
			 RON Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 1,021 901 88.3 
			 RQX Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust 461 417 90.5 
			 RJZ King's College Hospital NHS Trust 913 807 88.3 
			 RAX Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 590 501 84.9 
			 RJ6 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust 727 654 90.0 
			 RP6 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust 61 43 70.5 
			 RNH Newham Healthcare NHS Trust 463 390 84.1 
			 RAT North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 840 727 86.6 
			 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 487 439 90.3 
			 RPG Oxleas NHS Trust 452 446 98.6 
			 RG2 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 483 455 94.3 
			 RGZ Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 435 351 80.7 
			 RT3 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust 378 340 89.9 
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 923 703 76.1 
			 RAN Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 163 120 73.7 
			 RV5 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 967 925 95.6 
			 RQY South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust 838 777 92.6 
			 RJ7 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 990 842 85.0 
			 RJ5 St Mary's NHS Trust 636 570 89.6 
			 RAS The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 661 585 88.6 
			 RJ2 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust 560 521 92.9 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 830 757 91.2 
			 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Trust 241 197 81.8 
			 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 405 387 95.6 
			 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Trust 832 707 85.0 
			 RKL West London Mental Health NHS Trust 569 543 95.6 
			 RFW West Middlesex University NHS Trust 432 419 96.9 
			 RGC Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 846 732 86.5 
		
	
	
		
			   2000–01 
			   Total 
			   Available Occupied Percentage occupied 
		
		
			 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust (23)— (23)— (23)— 
			 RVL Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 913 835 91.4 
			 RRP Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust (23)— (23)— (23)— 
			 RNJ Barts and the London NHS Trust 1,056 892 84.5 
			 RG3 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 655 521 79.5 
			 TAP Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust (23)— (23)— (23)— 
			 RV3 Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust 732 621 84.8 
			 ROM Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust 481 367 76.2 
			 RC3 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 379 333 87.8 
			 RWK East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust 514 480 93.4 
			 RVR Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust 935 771 82.4 
			 RP4 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust 272 203 74.6 
			 RJ1 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust 1,243 979 78.8 
			 RON Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 1,056 866 82.0 
			 RQX Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust 491 444 90.5 
			 RJZ King's College Hospital NHS Trust 978 803 82.1 
			 RAX Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 575 503 87.5 
			 RJ6 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust 767 568 74.0 
			 RP6 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust 61 42 68.9 
			 RNH Newham Healthcare NHS Trust 470 405 86.2 
			 RAT North East London Mental Health NHS Trust (23)— (23)— (23)— 
			 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 397 334 84.3 
			 RPG Oxleas NHS Trust 391 354 90.7 
			 RG2 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 477 436 91.4 
			 RGZ Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 448 370 82.5 
			 RT3 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust 421 357 85.0 
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 974 805 82.7 
			 RAN Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 194 151 78.0 
			 RV5 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust 960 929 96.8 
			 RQY South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust 595 541 90.9 
			 RJ7 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 984 833 84.6 
			 RJ5 St Mary's NHS Trust 579 510 88.0 
			 RAS The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 654 581 88.8 
			 RJ2 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust 561 491 87.6 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 852 698 81.9 
			 RPY The Royal Marsden NHS Trust 240 200 83.3 
			 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 461 400 86.8 
			 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Trust 848 786 92.8 
			 RKL West London Mental Health NHS Trust (23)— (23)— (23)— 
			 RFW West Middlesex University NHS Trust 410 367 89.5 
			 RGC Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust (23)— (23)— (23)— 
		
	
	(23) No data.
	Source:
	Department of Health form KH03

Child Poverty

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to achieve the Government's targets of ending child poverty by 2020, and halving it by 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 9 March 2005
	The Government sets out the steps that departments across Government are taking to achieve the targets of ending child poverty by 2020 and halving it by 2010 in the Child Poverty Review, published alongside the 2004 Spending Review and available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/spending review/spend sr04/associated documents/spending sr04 childpoverty.cfm.
	There is a strong link between poverty and ill health. The Government have set targets to reduce health inequalities and have set out an extensive programme in "Tackling Health Inequalities: A Programme for Action" (2003) and the "Choosing Health" (2004) White Paper.

Departmental Policies (Tamworth)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Tamworth constituency, the effects on the constituency of changes to his Department's policies since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government has put in place a programme of National Health Service investment and reform since 1997 to improve service delivery in all parts of the United Kingdom. There is significant evidence that these policies have yielded considerable benefits for the Tamworth constituency.
	For example:
	At the end of December 2004, the number of people waiting more than nine months for in-patient treatment within the Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth primary care trust (PCT) has fallen to zero, from 261 in June 2002.
	At the end of December 2004, the number of patients waiting over 13 weeks for out-patient treatment within Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth PCT has fallen to 198, from 300 in June 2002.
	In June 2003, at Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust, 89.3 per cent. of patients spent less than four hours in accident and emergency from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. Figures for December 2004 show an improvement to 99.5 per cent.
	Between September 1997 and June 2004, the number of consultants at Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust has increased from 63 to 80. Between September 1997 and September 2003, the number of nurses has increased from 687 to 836.
	Between September 2001 and June 2004, the number of general medical practitioners within Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth PCT has increased from 85 to 96.
	Figures for December 2004 show that all patients within Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth PCT are able to be offered an appointment with a GP within two working days and a primary care professional within one working day.
	100 per cent. of urgent GP referrals to Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust, with suspected cancer, are seen by a specialist within two weeks of the referral.
	An additional new cardiac catheter laboratory, which includes x-ray equipment for diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease, will be delivered to the Staffordshire General Hospital during spring 2005.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the likely total debt of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust at the end of this financial year; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Audited information on the financial position of national health service trusts will be published in their individual annual accounts. This data will be available centrally in the autumn. We have no plans to publish un-audited information.